


Mouldy Eggs

by criesmom



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, not as gross as the title might suggest, vague mentions of mentall illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 16:49:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12214881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/criesmom/pseuds/criesmom
Summary: When Seokmin got home from a supermarket shop, he wasn't expecting to find his boyfriend bald in the bathtub





	Mouldy Eggs

Seokmin stumbled through the door, hands full of reusable grocery bags as he struggled to shut the door behind him.

“Soonyoung, I’m home,” he called out, heaving the bags up onto the kitchen counter. “You want chicken or lamb for dinner?”

It took him a moment to register there was no reply, as he was distracted by putting the groceries away. He frowned at the vegetable drawer in the fridge.

“Soonyoung?”

When there was again no reply, Seokmin stood up and closed the fridge door. He went first to their bedroom, expecting Soonyoung to be curled up under the covers, sleeping soundly as he often was at five in the afternoon. Upon finding the bed empty, Seokmin tried calling Soonyoung. Panic started to settle in his throat when Soonyoung’s phone buzzed on the bedside table.

He hung up and started to wring his hands. “Soonyoung?”

Finally, _mercifully_ , a reply came from the tiny bathroom in their tiny flat.

“‘N here,” Soonyoung’s voice was so small Seokmin almost thought he’d imagined it.

Seokmin ran to the bathroom, throwing the door back and gasping at the sight.

Soonyoung was sitting in the tub, fully clothed and fully dry. This happened often, as Soonyoung insisted the bath made him feel safe. What was out of the ordinary was the patchiness of his scalp, allowing Seokmin to see pale skin beneath his hair.

The sink was covered in large chunks of Soonyoung’s hair, some of it still caught in the kitchen scissors. The floor was just as bad, though the clumps had fallen apart and scattered upon impact with the lanolin. There was a dark trail of hair leading to where Soonyoung was sitting, knees held to his chest and with hair dusting his shoulders and clinging to his shirt.

Seokmin was at his side in an instant. He leaned over, using his hands to gently inspect Soonyoung’s head, making sure he hadn’t hurt himself. Soonyoung allowed himself to be manhandled, his face blank and puffy. Once he was sure Soonyoung wasn’t injured, Seokmin gripped his face.

“Baby, what happened?”

Soonyoung, for all he looked like he couldn’t cry any more, dislodged tears when he shut his eyes. “I don’t know.”

Seokmin had seen countless television shows where people struggling with mental illnesses cut their hair on impulse, but he never thought it was something that happened in real life. As such, he didn’t know how to react to his boyfriend cutting off his own beautiful, beautiful hair.

Seokmin climbed into the tub with him, pulling Soonyoung into his lap and wrapping himself around him as Soonyoung wept into his chest. He seemed to have used up all his energy, as he felt like a ragdoll in Seokmin’s arms. All Seokmin could do was rock him, softly hushing him and rubbing his back.

After some time, Soonyoung seemed to have bled himself dry as he lifted his head. Seokmin smiled warmly at him, using a thumb to swipe softly under Soonyoung’s eyes, then kissing his nose. Soonyoung gave him a half-hearted stretch of his lips and let out a deep sigh.

“I was sad and I didn’t know what else to do.”

Seokmin nodded, even though he didn’t fully understand. “It’s okay, I’m here now.”

Soonyoung hummed as Seokmin continued rubbing his back. “How’s it look?”

Truthfully, it was awful. Objectively Seokmin knew that. But he thought Soonyoung looked beautiful no matter what, so he wasn’t the best person to ask.

“Maybe you should have a look for yourself.”

When Soonyoung nodded but made no effort to move, Seokmin took it into his own hands, carefully manoeuvring the two of them so that he could stand up without dislodging Soonyoung from his lap. He made his way into the kitchen, sighing at the sight of the groceries still on the counter top. He grabbed one of the stools and took it into the bathroom, setting it down in front of the mirror before helping Soonyoung stand up.

Once seated, Soonyoung hesitantly looked at his own reflection before his eyes went wide and he clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Shit,” he said, the word muffled. “God, Seokmin, it looks fucking awful.” He leant forward so that his hands hid his face, and Seokmin couldn’t help noticing the shake of his shoulders. “What the fuck have I done?”

“Sh, baby,” Seokmin gently rubbed at Soonyoung’s shoulders, “it’s okay, we can fix it.”

“How?” Soonyoung asked, lifting his head and looking at Seokmin with such sadness and regret that Seokmin wanted to cry as well. “How do we fix this?”

He reached up, harshly tugging at the longer bits of hair, almost as if he wanted to pull them out. Seokmin hushed him, gently taking Soonyoung’s wrists and wrapping his arms around him. He rocked him again, kissing the side of Soonyoung’s neck despite the resulting hair in his mouth.

“I have an electric razor; we can fix this.” He kissed behind Soonyoung’s ear. “Do you trust me?”

Holding in a breath that puffed his chest, Soonyoung nodded.

“Okay, give me a minute and I’ll be right back.”

It took a fair amount of rummaging to find the old razor, as Seokmin hadn’t used it for a long time. He couldn’t remember why he even still had it, but he was thankful he did. Once he found it, he gathered all the different pieces and carried everything in a bundle back to Soonyoung. He was absent-mindedly tugging at his hair and Seokmin tutted at him.

“Stop, you’re only going to hurt yourself.”

Soonyoung lowered his hands with a sigh. “Did you find it?”

Seokmin nodded, placing the razor on the sink next to the scissors and plugging it in. He ran his fingers through what was left of Soonyoung’s hair, inspecting it to see where to start.

“You got it pretty short in places,” he said, lightly brushing his fingers over the spots that were almost bald. “I think I’m going to have to get rid of all of it.”

Soonyoung groaned, making Seokmin chuckle a little as he looked for the right clip on.

“It’s okay; it’ll be a new start.”

While Seokmin found the piece he was looking for, Soonyoung grumbled incoherently under his breath. Seokmin tested out the different speeds before settling on the lowest one, not wanting to worry Soonyoung.

He started at the nape of Soonyoung’s neck, dragging the razor up slowly and following the curve of the back of his head. He tapped the loose hair out of the blade and did another stripe next to the first, slowly and carefully getting rid of almost all the hair on the back of Soonyoung’s head. He set the razor down to get the scissors and tidy up some of the longer parts before swapping them out for the razor again. He was especially cautious around Soonyoung’s fringe area, holding up his free hand to shield Soonyoung’s eyes.

Eventually, Seokmin was happy with his work; the hair all one, even length of two or three millimetres with no traceable lines from the razor. He switched the appliance off and set it down on the sink, gently brushing any left-over hairs from Soonyoung’s scalp.

“All done.”

Soonyoung had had his eyes closed throughout the haircut, and when he opened them, his shoulders slumped. Seokmin looped his arms loosely around Soonyoung’s shoulders, kissing the corner of his jaw as they both looked at Soonyoung in the mirror.

“I still think your beautiful, baby.” He nipped at Soonyoung’s earlobe before he could interject. “I know that doesn’t change anything, or how you feel. But it _is_ just hair; it’ll grow back.”

Soonyoung pouted with a sigh. “Thank you, Seokmin.”

“It’s okay.”

“God, I’m so tired.”

Seokmin helped Soonyoung take off his shirt, then gathering him in his arms and carrying him to their shared bedroom. He placed Soonyoung gently on the bed, throwing the duvet over him and tucking him in. Seokmin sat next to him on the edge of the bed, one arm supporting him on the mattress across Soonyoung’s body.

“Get some sleep, baby,” he said, leaning down to kiss Soonyoung’s forehead before getting up and switching off the light.

He resumed putting the groceries away, deciding that Soonyoung needed some good comfort food and settling on chicken. He grilled the meat in the oven and prepared a simple salad of oranges, red onion and lettuce to go on the side. While he waited for the meat to cook, he took a broom and a dust pan and brush into the bathroom. It didn’t take long for him to sweep up all the hair into one pile on the floor, then brushing it into the dust pan. He didn’t know exactly what he should do with it, and ended up putting it directly in their council provided bin outside. When he got back inside, he checked the chicken by cutting one of the pieces down the middle. Seeing it was cooked, he served the salad on two plates with a chicken breast on each.

Soonyoung’s newly shaved head was peeking out of the top of the duvet and Seokmin could see he was scrolling through something on his phone. After setting one plate down on the dresser, he switched the light on, causing Soonyoung to groan and retreat under the covers.

Seokmin laughed, picking up the plate again and walking over to sit on the floor by Soonyoung’s side of the bed.

“I made you chicken.”

Soonyoung peeked out of the covers, just enough that Seokmin could see his bloodshot eyes.

“Will you feed me?”

 Seokmin was more than happy to, so he spent the better part of an hour carefully cutting up the chicken and loading the fork with onion and orange, patiently waiting for Soonyoung to finish his mouthful before giving him more. Soonyoung’s eyes were closed most of the time, signalling to Seokmin that he was still exhausted.

Only after Soonyoung had finished everything on his plate did Seokmin start work on his own dinner. Soonyoung watched him through hooded lids, tracking the movements of his hands and mouth.

“Do you have any hats?”

Seokmin hummed through his mouthful, swallowing before he answered. “A few beanies, you can use them if you want.”

“Thanks.” Soonyoung bit his lip. “Hey Seokmin?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you still love me even though I look like a mouldy egg?”

Seokmin had to try his hardest not to choke on his food. It was half laughter, half shock that Soonyoung would ask him that. Soonyoung watched him as he tried to calm himself down.

“Of course I do, I’ll always love you.” He smiled, reaching out a hand to rub the crown of Soonyoung’s head. “Even if you do look a bit like a mouldy egg.”

Soonyoung frowned. “That’s mean.”

“Hmm. You said it first. And I still love you; that’s what’s important here.”

Soonyoung looked as if he wanted to protest, but decided he didn’t have the energy for it and burrowed back under the duvet. Seokmin finished his dinner in silence, spare Soonyoung’s soft breathing.

He took their plates into the kitchen, scrubbing the grilling dishes before putting everything in the dishwasher. He brushed his teeth and filled a couple of water glasses, taking them into their bedroom with him. He set one glass on Soonyoung’s bedside table, then the other on his own before climbing into bed and fitting himself against the curve of Soonyoung’s body.

Soonyoung nuzzled back into him as they spooned, and the arm Seokmin had slung over Soonyoung’s waist quickly had its fingers tangled in Soonyoung’s. Seokmin smiled into the darkness and the back of Soonyoung’s head. It was a little scratchy against his nose; the same way Soonyoung’s chin was if he forgot to shave his face in the morning. Seokmin didn’t care, though.

“Goodnight, Mouldy Egg. I love you.”

“I love you too, Seok. Sleep well.”

**Author's Note:**

> I LOVE GROSS FLUFF AND HURT N COMFORT also ,,,,soons would look good as a mouldy egg u can't tell me otherwise


End file.
